Newly-promoted York City have been drawn against Crawley Town in the Preliminary Round of 2026-27 Carabao Cup.
With nine Premier League clubs having again qualified for UEFA competitions next season, the EFL have had to utilise the preliminary round once again for the start of next season’s Carabao Cup in order to ensure that there is clear balance of 32 clubs come the third round when those nine clubs enter the tournament.
Newly promoted National League champions, York City and play-off winners, Rochdale consequently must participate in the preliminary round alongside Tranmere Rovers and Crawley who finished 21st and 22nd in League Two last season.
Unlike last season when there was a simple scenario of pairing two northern clubs together and likewise with the two southern clubs and doing a draw to determine the home and away teams, three northern teams (Rochdale, Tranmere and York) were involved.
This meant that York would play a Southern club in Round One if they progress after they were drawn at home to Crawley, with the tie scheduled for weekend of 1 August, with the First Round scheduled for the weekend after of 8-9 August and split into North and Southern Sections as traditional.
Should York reach Round Two then they would swap positions with the most southern-placed team left in the Northern Section, in order to provide better geographical balance in that round.
Tranmere will host Rochdale in the other preliminary round tie with that tie too scheduled for the weekend of 1 August, with the winner placed in the Northern Section of the first round, of which the draw for that round will be held on 25 June.
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